Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse covers an area of west-central Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, including the city of La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...

 and 19 counties: Adams
Adams County, Wisconsin
Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Sources differ as to whether its name is in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams, or his son, the sixth President, John Quincy Adams. As of 2000, the population of Adams County was 18,643. Its county seat is...

, Buffalo
Buffalo County, Wisconsin
Buffalo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 13,804. Its county seat is Alma.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Chippewa
Chippewa County, Wisconsin
Chippewa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 55,195. Its county seat is Chippewa Falls. The United States Census Bureau's Eau Claire Metropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Chippewa County...

, Clark, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire
Eau Claire County, Wisconsin
Eau Claire County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population estimate was 98,736. Its county seat is Eau Claire....

, Jackson
Jackson County, Wisconsin
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2009, the population estimate was 19,886. Its county seat is Black River Falls. Jackson County was formed from Crawford County in 1853.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Juneau
Juneau County, Wisconsin
Juneau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the population was 24,316. Its county seat is Mauston. It should not, however, be confused with the city of Juneau, Wisconsin, to which it has no connection.-Geography:...

, La Crosse, Marathon
Marathon County, Wisconsin
Marathon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, WI, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 134,063. Its county seat is Wausau.-Geography:...

, Monroe
Monroe County, Wisconsin
Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 40,899. Its county seat is Sparta.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Pepin, Pierce
Pierce County, Wisconsin
Pierce County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 41,019. Its county seat is Ellsworth. Pierce County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area .-Geography:...

, Portage
Portage County, Wisconsin
Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 67,182. Its county seat is Stevens Point. The United States Census Bureau's Stevens Point Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Portage County.-Geography:...

, Richland, Trempealeau
Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Trempealeau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2009, the population estimate was 27,754. Its county seat is Whitehall.-History:Patches of woodland are all that remain of the brush and light forest that once covered the county...

, Vernon
Vernon County, Wisconsin
Vernon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2009, the population estimate was 29,324. Its county seat is Viroqua.-History:...

, and Wood.

The official title of the diocese is the Diocese of La Crosse and the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 title Dioecesis Crossensis. The Metropolitan for the diocese is the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The mother church is the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman
Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman
The Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman is the mother church of the Diocese of La Crosse. The cathedral, designed by architect Edward J. Schulte, was completed in 1962.Built of limestone, it has a tall clock tower which rises above the surrounding buildings in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin.The...

, and the Bishop of La Crosse is the former Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop, William P. Callahan, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 on Friday, June 11, 2010. He was installed on August 11th, 2010. On November 14th, 2009, the former La Crosse Bishop Jerome Listecki was appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee. He succeeded Archbishop Timothy Dolan who was transferred to New York. Listecki was installed in Milwaukee on January 4, 2010. In 2006, Listecki had succeeded Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St...

 as La Crosse's bishop; Burke had become the Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and later the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court. Burke succeeded Bishop John Joseph Paul
John Joseph Paul
John Joseph Paul was a Roman Catholic bishop.Bishop Paul was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Aquinas High School in 1935. In 1939, he graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. John Joseph Paul was ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood on January 24, 1943, by Auxiliary...

 in 1994.

History

The Diocese of La Crosse was established by Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 Pius IX on March 3, 1868, from territory that was taken from what was then the Diocese of Milwaukee. It included the part of Wisconsin lying north and west of the Wisconsin River. Michael Heiss
Michael Heiss
Michael Heiss was a German-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of La Crosse and the second Archbishop of Milwaukee .-Biography:...

. Then head of St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, was named the first bishop and La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...

 the see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

.

On May 3, 1905, the territory of the Dioceses of La Crosse and Green Bay was brought together to form the Diocese of Superior
Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior is in northern Wisconsin. It comprises the city of Superior and the counties of Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Lincoln, Oneida, Price, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor, Vilas, and Washburn in Wisconsin, with an area of...

, reducing the diocese to the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marathon, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Richland, Sauk, Trempealeau, Vernon, and Wood, an area of 17299 square miles (44,804.2 km²).

When the diocese was established, there were 22 priests who had to care for 23 churches and about 50 stations. Along with the English and German congregations, provisions were also made for Poles and Italians. Franciscan sisters and lay teachers had charge of six parish schools. During the twelve years of his administration in La Crosse, Heiss built several churches, including the cathedral, and the episcopal residence. On March 14, 1880, he was appointed coadjutor with right of succession to the Archbishop of Milwaukee, and succeeded, September 7, 1881. He died at La Crosse, March 26, 1890.

Kilian Flasch, second bishop, was born at Retzstadt, Bavaria, July 16, 1837, immigrated when he was ten years old, and settled near Milwaukee. He was selected as the successor of Bishop Heiss and consecrated Bishop of La Crosse, August 24, 1881. During his administration of ten years he worked to increase the churches and the schools of the diocese, dying after a long illness on August 3, 1891.

James Schwebach, his vicar-general, succeeded him as the third bishop, and was consecrated, February 25, 1892.

On January 9, 1946, territory from the Dioceses of La Crosse and Green Bay and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was taken to form the Diocese of Madison
Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison
The Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, is the Roman Catholic Diocese for the southwest corner of Wisconsin. It comprises Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, LaFayette, Marquette, Rock and Sauk counties. The area of the diocese is approximately...

.

Father Solanus Casey
Solanus Casey
Venerable Bernard Francis Casey was born in Oak Grove, Wisconsin. A Capuchin priest, Casey was known for his great faith, humility, and role as spiritual counselor and intercessor...

, of the Capuchin
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

 religious order, who was declared venerable
Venerable
The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...

 by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 in 1995, was born in Pierce County, Wisconsin
Pierce County, Wisconsin
Pierce County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 41,019. Its county seat is Ellsworth. Pierce County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area .-Geography:...

, which is part of the Diocese of La Crosse.

The Diocese today

Throughout its 19 counties, the diocese has 108 parishes with a resident pastor and 57 others without a resident pastor. There are 177 diocesan priests incardinated in the diocese, while another 15 priests belong to various religious orders. In July of 2009, 21 seminarians were currently studying to enter the priesthood of the diocese. There are also four religious brothers, 31 permanent deacons, five hermits and three consecrated virgins. 447 religious sisters belong mainly to two large religious orders: the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis is a Roman Catholic Franciscan religious congregation for women. The Congregation was established in 1901. Their motherhouse is in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse....

 in Stevens Point
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...

 and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded Viterbo University and staffed Aquinas...

 in La Crosse. Other active religious are the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate is a Roman Catholic Institute of Religious Life with Pontifical Right established by Pope John Paul II on 1 January 1998. The F.F.I. was founded by two Franciscan Conventual priests on 2 August 1970 and is a reformed Franciscan Conventual religious institute...

 in La Crosse, Capuchins in Marathon, and the Cistercians in Sparta. The Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St George
Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St George
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. The order's mother house is in Germany and the American provincial mother house is in Alton, Illinois, with convents in the Diocese of La Crosse, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Archdiocese of...

 also have a convent in La Crosse.

Bishops of the Diocese of La Crosse

The following is a list of the Bishops of the Diocese of La Crosse and their terms of service:
  • Michael Heiss
    Michael Heiss
    Michael Heiss was a German-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of La Crosse and the second Archbishop of Milwaukee .-Biography:...

     (1868–1880)
  • Kilian Caspar Flasch (1881–1891)
  • James Schwebach
    James Schwebach
    James Schwebach was a Luxembourgian-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1892 until his death in 1921.-Biography:...

     (1891–1921)
  • Alexander Joseph McGavick
    Alexander Joseph McGavick
    Alexander Joseph McGavick was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1921 until his death in 1948.-Biography:...

     (1921–1948)
  • John Patrick Treacy
    John Patrick Treacy
    John Patrick Treacy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1948 until his death in 1964.-Biography:...

     (1948–1964)
  • Frederick William Freking (1965–1983)
  • John Joseph Paul
    John Joseph Paul
    John Joseph Paul was a Roman Catholic bishop.Bishop Paul was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Aquinas High School in 1935. In 1939, he graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. John Joseph Paul was ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood on January 24, 1943, by Auxiliary...

     (1983–1994)
  • Raymond Leo Burke
    Raymond Leo Burke
    Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St...

     (1994–2003)
  • Jerome Edward Listecki
    Jerome Edward Listecki
    Jerome Edward Listecki is an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago before serving as Bishop of La Crosse . He was named Archbishop of Milwaukee by Pope Benedict XVI on November 14, 2009...

     (2004–2010)
  • William P. Callahan
    William P. Callahan
    William Patrick Callahan, O.F.M. Conv., DD is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. On Friday, June 11, 2010, he was named Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse by Pope Benedict XVI, succeeding Jerome Edward Listecki, who had become Milwaukee's Archbishop.Bishop Callahan...

     (2010–Present)

Affliated Bishops

  • George Albert Hammes
    George Albert Hammes
    George Albert Hammes was the eighth Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin from 1960 to 1985. Bishop Hammes was born in St. Joseph, Wisconsin in the town of Greenfield, in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on May 22, 1937 for the...

    , was ordained a priest for the La Crosse Diocese and later became Bishop of the Superior, Wisconsin Diocese (1960–1985)

Diocesan institutions

Among the institutions in the Diocese of La Crosse are 10 Catholic-affiliated hospitals; Viterbo University
Viterbo University
Viterbo University is a Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States in the Diocese of La Crosse.-History:...

, which enrolls 2,167 students; St. Rose of Viterbo Convent
St. Rose of Viterbo Convent
St. Rose of Viterbo Convent is the mother house of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse. The convent was dedicated to Rose of Viterbo. The Franciscan Sisters moved into the convent in 1871....

, the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded Viterbo University and staffed Aquinas...

, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Catholic shrine located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Construction of the Shrine Church began on May 13, 2004, with a dedication on July 31, 2008. The grounds include a...

 in La Crosse. The first Mass was held at the Shrine on July 31, 2008. Prairie du Chien
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....

 was home to the Jesuit-run Campion High School
Campion High School
Campion Jesuit High School was a Jesuit-run boarding school for boys in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin named for the Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion. The school operated from its founding in 1880 until closing in 1975, and educated several notable figures during its existence. The former school's campus...

 until its closing in 1975.

High schools

  • Aquinas High School
    Aquinas High School (La Crosse, Wisconsin)
    Aquinas High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in La Crosse, Wisconsin.-History:The high school was dedicated on September 2, 1928 in honor of Thomas Aquinas by Bishop Alexander Joseph McGavick of the Diocese of La Crosse. The first graduating class of 1929 consisted of four girls...

    , La Crosse
  • Assumption High School
    Assumption High School (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin)
    Assumption High School is a Roman Catholic high school in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse.Assumption was established in 1951...

    , Wisconsin Rapids
  • Columbus Catholic High School
    Columbus Catholic High School (Marshfield, Wisconsin)
    Columbus Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Marshfield, Wisconsin. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse.-Background:Columbus Catholic High School is one of two Catholic high schools in Wood County....

    , Marshfield
  • Madonna High School, Mauston (closed in 1966)
  • McDonell Central Catholic High School
    McDonell Central Catholic High School
    McDonell Central Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic high school in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse. It is the only Catholic high school in Chippewa County....

    , Chippewa Falls
  • Newman Catholic High School
    Newman Catholic High School (Wausau, Wisconsin)
    Newman Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic high school in Wausau, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse.-Background:Newman Catholic was established in 1951. It is the only Catholic high school in Marathon County....

    , Wausau
  • Pacelli High School, Stevens Point
  • Regis High School
    Regis High School (Eau Claire, Wisconsin)
    Regis High School is a co-ed Catholic high school located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin United States in the Diocese of La Crosse. Bishop John Joseph Paul helped establish the present school....

    , Eau Claire

Publications

The Diocese of La Crosse publishes a bi-weekly newspaper, The Catholic Times
The Catholic Times
The Catholic Times is the official publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Published bi-weekly, the newspaper has 35,000 subscribers, most of whom live within the 19 Wisconsin counties that comprise the diocese....

, which has approximately 35,000 subscribers.

See also

  • Necedah Shrine
    Necedah Shrine
    Necedah Shrine, officially the Queen of the Holy Rosary, Mediatrix of Peace Shrine, is a Marian shrine located in Necedah, Juneau County. Wisconsin. On November 12, 1949, Mary Ann Van Hoof reported receiving a vision from the Blessed Virgin Mary. She claimed that in subsequent visions she was told...

  • Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem
    Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem
    The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem is a clerical Institute of Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church, founded in 2002 in the Diocese of La Crosse, and currently located in Chesterfield, Missouri, in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis...

  • Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
    Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
    The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The motherhouse is in Meriden, Connecticut in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford....

  • Franciscan Servants of Jesus
    Franciscan Servants of Jesus
    The Franciscan Servants of Jesus was a Roman Catholic, Franciscan religious congregation for women. The congregation was founded in 1997 with the approval of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, while he was the Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse...


Sources

  • Fisher, Father Gerald Edward. 257 Things You Should Know About the Diocese of La Crosse: A Celebration of the Diocese of La Crosse: 125 Years - 1968-1993: Bishop John J. Paul 50th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination: 1943-1993, 1993.
  • Fisher, Father Gerald Edward. Dusk Is My Dawn: The First Hundred Years of the Diocese of La Crosse, 1969.
  • Ludwig, Sister M. Mileta. Right Hand Uplifted: A Biography of Archbishop Michael Heiss, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 1968.
  • Brickl, Father Frank. Brickbats & Bouquets: Memories of a Parish Priest, edited by James L. Alt, 1990. (Information about the personalities of the Bishops of La Crosse from Bishop McGavick to Bishop Freking.)
  • Riverfront Times, St Louis, Missouri. (Alternative newspaper articles and letters about Archbishop Burke of St Louis.) See the discussion section for the article about the Diocese of La Crosse for the letters and articles.
  • La Crosse Public Library archives, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
  • Aquinas High School archives, La Crosse, Wisconsin. (Involvement of the Bishops of La Crosse from Bishop McGavick onwards with the school.)

Further reading

. Fr. Dan Farley is a fifteen-year veteran of the U.S. Army chaplain corps
Chaplain Corps (United States Army)
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Army consists of ordained clergy who are commissioned Army officers as well as enlisted soldiers who serve as assistants. Their purpose is to offer religious services, counseling, and moral support to the armed forces, whether in peacetime or at war.-Army...

. He retired as a chaplain and returned to St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Portage County, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse, in June 2009.

External links

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